Vice President Kamala Harris is on the verge of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee as the virtual roll call began Thursday morning at 9 a.m. ET.
However, roughly 4,700 Democratic delegates won’t cast votes for Harris with a roaring display of state pride on the convention floor, as they’ve done in the past. Instead, they will cast electronic votes for Harris from Thursday through Monday at 6 p.m. ET, eliminating the chance for viral moments of exuberant delegates voting for Harris to spread across social media. Party officials told the Associated Press they will hold a ceremonial roll call vote during the convention.
The vice president was the sole candidate to clear the qualifications needed to appear on the ballot after 3,923 delegates voted for Harris to replace President Joe Biden as the 2024 nominee. Candidates were given until July 27 to declare their bid for the presidency as long as they had 300 delegate signatures with no more than 50 from one state.
“Democratic delegates from across the nation made their voices heard, overwhelmingly backing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison and DNC convention chairwoman Minyon Moore in a joint statement Tuesday.
Harris achieved this feat of clearing the field of any true challengers roughly two weeks after Biden announced he was exiting the 2024 race on July 21, putting an end to Democratic concerns that Biden’s exit would lead to an unwanted open convention at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.
Just 30 minutes after Biden’s surprise announcement, the president also endorsed Harris on X. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said in the post. “Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Biden’s strength of support opened up a floodgate of Democratic House and Senate members who fell in line behind Harris, as did the Democratic base. The Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus all released statements endorsing Harris that same day. Leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Chuck Schumer, and former President Barack Obama all endorsed Harris after initially not commenting on the vice president in their effusive statements praising Biden for exiting the race.
Other lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pushed Harris to adopt a progressive agenda before he too eventually endorsed her. “Our job is not just to defeat Donald Trump. It is to elect Kamala Harris as our next president,” Sanders said.
Those who had been previously discussed as presidential candidates, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), and Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), backed down from launching campaigns against Harris and endorsed her as it appeared the party was aligned behind the vice president.
Former President Donald Trump , however, and his GOP allies have branded Harris’s ability to swiftly reunite the party as a “coup." Harris's ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket comes after party leaders called for Biden to step down after the sole presidential debate between him and Trump displayed the president’s fragility.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), perhaps the most vulnerable Democratic senator this election cycle, has not yet endorsed Harris despite her being the only viable Democratic nominee. “We're working on my race right now. Focused totally on that. Believe it or not, I am, and we're going to win,” Tester told the Washington Examiner. “We'll deal with the presidential race when we have time to do that. I'm also dealing with the defense bill that's pretty damn important.”
The party, once bereft over Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump, quickly rallied around Harris, who is nearly two decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump. The Harris campaign raised $200 million in one week after Biden stepped down from the ticket, as several polls show Harris gaining on Trump in battleground states.
The momentum behind Harris speaks to the sour mood Democrats had felt with 81-year-old Biden leading the ticket. Several polls showed that the public did not want a repeat of the 2020 Trump-Biden election. With Harris on the ticket, Democrats who were reluctant about voting for Biden again appear to be energized by having a different candidate to take on Trump.
Harris, as the nation’s first female vice president, is already seeing inroads with black voters, women voters, and Gen Z voters, all of whom have organized Zoom calls raising millions of dollars in support of her campaign.
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But at least one delegate has voiced some concern that the process to officially nominate Harris has moved quickly. "A lot of delegates feel like this process is being rushed," Roman Fritz, a Wisconsin delegate, told CBS 58 . "I feel like my voice is being silenced a little bit." Fritz also said he was likely to vote for Harris in November despite his criticism.
The decision to hold a virtual roll call vote was first brought up to counter Ohio’s state ballot certification deadline on Aug. 7, before the DNC began on Aug. 19 and the nominee would have been officially selected on Aug. 22. Although the GOP-led state legislature moved to extend the deadline, Democrats moved forward with the virtual roll to rectify any unforeseen issues with ballot deadlines.
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After wrapping up the nomination, Harris will have to announce a running mate . Her campaign previously announced on Thursday that she and the vice presidential pick will hold a battleground state tour beginning on Tuesday, traveling to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.
The campaign swing is sure to continue the momentum that has surrounded Harris over the past two weeks before the party gathers in Chicago to crown Harris as the nominee.
Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
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